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Top 14 preview: Round 17

There are plenty of intriguing ties in the Top 14 this weekend, starting with Clermont travelling to Racing on Friday.

Last Updated: 07/02/13 10:24pm

Aurelien Rougerie: One of the star names in the Clermont side

In a tasty aperitif to the main course, Racing Metro will entertain title-chasing Clermont on Friday night.

Clermont, who still have the strength-in-depth to name 11 internationals in their squad, are currently seven points off the pace in the Top 14 - with their defeat last time out to Perpignan proving costly.

And things will not be easy against a resurgent Racing team that have claimed the scalp of Toulon as part of an impressive run of four wins in five games.

Aurelien Rougerie, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Brock James and Nathan Hines are among some of the star names in the Clermont lineup, while Racing are not short of quality themselves - with Olly Barkley, Juan Martin Hernandez, Juan Imhoff and Manuel Carizza all starting.